


Embrace the Night

by WolfenM



Category: Extreme Ghostbusters (Cartoon), Ghostbusters - All Media Types, The Real Ghostbusters
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Animal Transformation, Comedy, Eduardo Rivera Redemption, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Folklore, Hurt/Comfort, Paganism, Redemption, Romance, Team as Family, Werewolf, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-21 21:58:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8261831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfenM/pseuds/WolfenM
Summary: Eduardo and Kylie have been fighting as usual, but they're both tired of it. The question is, what will they do about it — especially when a dapper gentleman comes rather abruptly into Kylie's life? Can Kylie and Eduardo put their differences aside long enough to catch a werewolf that threatens the city? What's more, when he learns the werewolf is tied up with his new rival, will Eduardo want to?





	1. Night One

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote this back in 2000 -- it was my first -ever fanfic! I edited and tweaked it on 9/26/09. You can read the reviews of the original version [at Fanfiction.net](http://www.fanfiction.net/reviews.php?storyid=214666).
> 
> You can see my old illustraions for ths series at [DeviantART](http://wolfenm.deviantart.com/art/GB-Embrace-the-Night-OLD-168139135) (there's also [this one](http://wolfenm.deviantart.com/art/GB-EmbracetheNight-Finale-OLD-168139893)
> 
> You can find more of my Ghostbusters-related fanworks at my [Paranormal Pop Culture Tumblr](http://wolfenm.deviantart.com/art/GB-EmbracetheNight-Finale-OLD-168139893).
> 
> If your first language is Russian, user rikki-mikki [has kindly begun translating this fic](https://ficbook.net/readfic/5816638)!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: Ghostbusters, Extreme Ghostbusters, Egon Spengler, Janine Melnitz, Eduardo Rivera, Kylie Griffin, Garrett Miller, Roland Jackson, Slimer the Green Ghost, Ray Stanz, Peter Venkman, Winston Zeddemore, proton packs, contaiment units, ghost traps, ghost beacons, the Ghostbusters Firehouse Headquarters, Ecto-1, and all other the characters & concepts therein ©/TM/R Paramount & Sony, unless otherwise specified. This site is not done with permission of the aforementioned, nor is it intended to violate those copyrights/ trademarks/ registrationmarks. For entertainment purposes only.

Kylie Griffin greeted the rising sun with a smile and a quick chant. She laid an offering of a few drops of juice and bit of a croissant from her breakfast in the libation bowl on her windowsill. Then she quickly scarfed the rest as she got ready for classes.

Her fellow Ghostbusters didn't know about her little morning ritual, or any of the other rituals she did, to greet the moon, to ask the God and Goddess for protection, to contact her late Grandmother Rose, among other things. They didn't know she was a "pagan", that the word wasn't just a name for her cat.

If there were any people in the world that she _could_ tell, it _would_ be the Ghostbusters (well, except maybe for Eduardo — he'd tease her for sure), but she just couldn't admit what she was to anyone, not even herself, really. So many hedgewitches, Wiccans (probably the closest to what she was, even if she wasn't terribly fond of some of Gerald Gardner's teachings), Strega, shamans, ceremonial mages, voudoo practitioners, Freemasons, Neo-Pagans, and countless other flavours of magic-uses, turned out to be flakier than the bit of croissant in her offering bowl (not all, of course; just nearly all of the magic-using people she'd personally _met_ ). They really didn't have a _clue_ what the paranormal world was really like (and sometimes not even the corporeal one)! She didn't want to be associated with the trendy "crafty" masses. What was said and done in her spellwork was between her and the gods, and needed no label. Not even "pagan", really (though she liked it). And she sure as hell didn't want the guys thinking she was anything like those silly girls who had called forth a Celtic deity for selfish, vindictive reasons!

Still, sometimes she wondered what it would be like to be in a Circle, a group ritual, with others like her, people who revered the old gods. She was often lonely, even when with her friends. And some rituals were a lot easier when you had help! But then she remembered _why_ she felt so lonely — she had yet to meet someone who saw the world quite like she did.

Egon came close, but he had _such_ a scientific view of magic! There was no real _spirituality_ in his spiritual studies. The others, while they believed in ghosts (and through them, magic), were not interested in them for any reason other than catching them. Roland wanted to build a bigger and better ghost-trap. Garrett wanted adventure. Eduardo ... wanted to spend his life aggravating _her_ , even if it meant catching ghosts to do it. At least, it was the only reason _she_ could figure for him to be a Ghostbuster.

It was something she often found herself wondering about. She and the others often teased him about his lack of effort, even going so far as to call him a slacker, or even a _coward_ now and then. Still, she had to admit that the _truth_ of the matter was that they came across some things that made them _all_ scared, and when it mattered, he always stood by them. In fact, half the time his real problem was that he leapt before looking, before they were ready! When they'd all first met, he claimed that he had signed up for Dr. Spengler's class to get an "easy A". Well it certainly hadn't turned out to be one! Yet he was still there with them, hadn't quit ....

Though she would never admit it, she was really glad he _had_ stayed. Sure he teased her, and was an arrogant jerk a lot of the time, but when he _wasn't_ , he was really sweet, even ... kinda _cute_. She wondered if it was true that a boy teased you when he really liked you ....

Well, it didn't matter anyway: he wasn't her type.

"Why can't I meet a _nice_ boy, Pagan, someone more like _me_? Someone into the esoteric who isn't trying to _quantify_ it into numbers all the time, like Egon ...."

The sun shone on a plaque on the wall, near her door. She failed to notice it as she tried to keep her cat from following her out into the hall.

_Be Careful What You Wish For — You Just Might Get It!_

 

~ * * * ~

"No, really, Eduardo, you are the bravest, handsomest, strongest man I've ever met! I just was too shy to tell you! But I can't bear to see you in the arms of other women! Please say you'll go out with me!"

Kylie held her hands clasped in front of her, like a cute little anime girl, her eyes shining with tears.

Eduardo looked first at the blond bombshell to his left, then to the brunette one on his right. "Sorry, girls." He removed his arms from around each of them and stepped forward.

Taking Kylie's hand in one of his, he wiped the tears away from her cheek with the other. Wearing just a white tank-top, he knew she could see his muscles rippling, even with such a simple gesture.

"Kylie ... you're the only girl for me ...."

"Oh, Eduardo! ..."

Leaning in to kiss her, he closed his eyes, and felt his lips meet her scaly ones.

_Scaly ...?_

He opened his eyes.

And screamed.

"What's the matter, loverboy?" came Kylie's sultry voice from a 5-foot tall lizard-like ghost with horns and worms for hair.

Eduardo screamed again, and opened his eyes for real this time, only to be confronted with another shock. His alarm clock read 9:10. He was already 10 minutes late for class!

He screamed a third time and scrambled out the door. It was almost a good thing that he'd been so tired from studying all day and ghostbusting half the night that he had fallen asleep in his clothes; this way, he was already dressed! And the ghost they'd been chasing had been some sort of water elemental, so he didn't need a shower, either!

Then again, if he hadn't been hunting it in the first place, he wouldn't have overslept and would have had _time_ to shower.

_If_ he didn't spend the night playing videogames instead, that was ....

Even though he was late because he'd overslept, Eduardo wished he could get just a bit _more_ sleep. What with school, ghostbusting, and the nightmares, he wasn't getting a whole lot of actual rest. And rest was what he needed most, as Garrett was so fond of teasing him. With the things daily life threw his way, though, even if he had had time to sleep more, it probably wouldn't have done him any _good_.

Ever since they'd battled Morpheus, Eduardo'd been having nightmares at _least_ once a week, bad dreams similar to the one he'd had under its influence. They were always of Kylie. At first she seemed to like him, love him, want him. And then she changed. She would suddenly start laughing at him, mocking him. Or, such as in the one he'd just had, she'd turn into a ghost, usually the latest one they'd busted. Which made sense: his waking world seemed to consist of nothing but ghostbusting and _her_.

_At least this time I didn't wake up_ bald, he thought to himself, trying to laugh it off.

But the root of the problem remained a dark cloud, something indefinable looming over and around him. He had no goals, no ambitions. He thought he'd finally found something in ghostbusting, but he wasn't even very good at that! Not the way the others were. He wasn't good at the technical side, like Roland, or the physical side, like Garrett (how embarrassing! Constantly outdone in the physical prowess department by a guy in a _wheelchair!_ ), or the knowledge aspect like Kylie and Egon. Even Janine, the _secretary_ , outdid him in _that_ department! So what _was_ he?

He knew what the _others_ saw him as. A goofball. Lazy. Stupid. A scrawny _wimp_. No wonder Kylie wouldn't have anything to do with him! What did he have to _offer?_

He was meeting the gang later for a study session. He dreaded these. Yet another opportunity to prove to them that he was even dumber than they thought. What's more, he just couldn't seem to keep his foot out of his mouth! Why couldn't he ever be _nice_ to Kylie, especially when he liked her so much? Or to Roland and Garrett or even Egon, for that matter? The longer he spent around Kylie, the _ruder_ he seemed to get!

He resolved to keep his mouth shut this session ....

 

~ * * * ~

Louis Garou ran right into a pretty girl when he was on his way out of an alley. He didn't stop to apologize or appreciate her beauty; he just grabbed his bag, picked himself up off the ground, and ran some more.

Kylie Griffin watched his retreating form, and itched to try a spell she'd found in one of Egon's books. _An it harm none_ , she reminded herself. She grabbed her own black bag, used the wall to pick herself up, dusted herself off, and made her way to class.

Someone else watched her leave, the silver tip of his cane glinting from the shadows. He smiled.

"So much easier to catch them when they're not running."

~ * * * ~

They all met at the firehouse later that afternoon. Janine brought them milk and cookies. Roland, Eduardo, Kylie, and even Egon all scrambled to grab a cookie before Garrett and Slimer got ahold of them. Roland put in some Mozart on the CD player while Garrett and Slimer fought over the last cookie. Eduardo wore a look of disgust on his face, but whether it was over the music or the flying slime, Kylie wasn't sure.

She smiled at her friends' antics as she reached into her bag to get her textbooks. Her smile fell abruptly when she discovered they weren't there. Or rather, when she discovered the bag wasn't hers. She let out a cry of dismay.

"What, did you forget forget your brain at home?" asked a latin-tinged tenor.

Kylie shot Eduardo a deadly look.

" _Eduardo._ " Egon's voice was a firm warning. Then gentler, to his protegé, "What's the matter, Kylie?"

"This isn't my bag!"

"What?" Garrett, distracted, lost the battle for the last cookie. He growled at the ghost, and Slimer ran off — into the kitchen, of course.

"Someone ran into me today, some guy... _He_ must have it."

Eduardo sat up straight. "Some guy took your bag?! Did you see what he looked like?!"

"No, no, it's not like that .... He was just coming out of an alley as I was walking down the street and he ran right into me. We both fell and dropped our things. He must have grabbed _my_ bag by mistake and _this_ one," she held it up, "is actually _his_."

Eduardo grabbed the bag from her. "Let me see that!"

"Eduardo!"

"There must be an ID in—" He stopped, his face gone pale. "Whoa."

"What is it?" Roland stepped over and peeked into the bag. Garrett, probably as curious as Kylie as to what could cause his buddy Eddy to be struck speechless, wheeled up on his other side. Egon and Janine stood behind him. Everyone was transfixed by whatever the pack contained. Kylie wanted to snag it back, but a sense of foreboding held her in place.

Slowly Eduardo pulled the object out of the bag. It was a tooth— a very _large_ one, maybe three inches long. There was an amethyst embedded in it, and the tooth was held by a silver setting, strung on a broken silver chain.

"Wow, Kylie, your new boyfriend's a big game hunter!" Eduardo tested the point of the tooth with the tip of a finger. "OWWww!" It proved surprisingly sharp; a drop of blood welled up on his fingertip. He stared at it blankly.

"Oh, be careful!" Janine, mother hen that she was, grabbed his wrist and wrapped a tissue around his finger. Egon took the tooth from Eduardo.

"Interesting," their mentor murmured.

Garrett ignored him, apparently seeing an opportunity ripe for the picking. "Awww, did widdle Eddy get bitten by the big bad tooth fairy?"

Kylie scowled at Garrett before turning to their teacher. "What is it, Egon?"

He didn't answer. Instead, Egon took the tooth over to his desk and searched through the mess there. A moment later he found his PKE meter. He held the tooth up to it and turned it on. Immediately, it started beeping at a high pitch.

"Just as I thought."

"What?" Roland asked, stepping over to take a look at the little screen. He gasped. "A Class 5!"

"Whu?" Garrett wheeled over to them. "A Class 5 _what_?"

"It's a cursed talisman," Egon elaborated.

Kylie felt a chill go up her spine.

She saw Eduardo shudder. "C- _cursed_?" he asked his voice coming out in a squeak.

"It's okay, Eddy, Kylie'll lift the curse for ya!" Garrett winked at Kylie. "Or maybe _not_ ...." He grinned.

Kylie desperately hoped she wasn't blushing. Why would _she_ be the one to lift it? Did they _know_ she was a pagan, think of her as a witch? Sure, she had done spells before, but then so had Egon. Was she reading too much into this?

"What do you mean by cursed, Egon?" Roland's question brought Kylie back to the matter at hand. "How did you even know to check?"

"I was just reading about it." Egon gestured towards the open book on his desk. On one page was a large colour sketch of the tooth. On the other was some text, with "The Curse of the Garou" in big fancy script at the top.

"Do-do-do-do, Do-do-do-do..." Garrett intoned.

As much as his joking often annoyed her, Kylie couldn't help but appreciate the sentiment. This was just too odd of a coincidence, definitely _Twilight Zone_ material. They had to have come across this talisman for a reason ....

"So what, am I gonna _die_ now?" Eduardo asked, unsuccessfully trying to laugh and hide the nervousness in his voice.

"No, no, the curse has something to do with lycanthropy."

"Oh, well then," Eduardo rolled his eyes and threw up his hands, "that's all right ...." He got up and stalked into the kitchen.

"Where are _you_ goin'?" Garrett called after him.

"A werewolf's gotta eat! Or else I'll end up eating one of _you_!" his voice carried to them from the other room. His head followed a moment later, poking from around the doorway. "Kylie would barely make an appetizer, but _you've_ been fattening yourself up _quite_ nicely ...."

" _HEY!!_ " yelled Garrett and Kylie.

" _Eduardo_!!" chorused the others.

It was a harsh thing to have said, even for Eduardo, but he just sneered at them and disappeared back into the kitchen. A moment later, Slimer came screeching out of the kitchen. He flew right into Janine's arms and shivered there. Roland moved towards the kitchen, to give Eduardo what-for, Kylie suspected.

Kylie stood and grabbed his arm. "No, Roland; he's just upset. Leave him be and let him cool off." She didn't know why she said that, though; she wanted to strangle the grunge-boy herself!

"Huh. _I'm_ just amazed he knew that 'lycanthropy' was a fancy term for the werewolf disease ...." Garrett muttered, obviously wanting to hurl that barb in Eduardo's face.

Egon seemed to consider the situation himself for a moment, then shrugged.

"I need to research this more. That book there," he pointed to it, "doesn't say much, other than that the talisman is tied to the Garou family, known lycanthropes. You might as well get to your studies for now..."

"Kind of hard to do without _books_ ", Kylie grumbled.

~ * * * ~

Eduardo took his time getting a sandwich together in the kitchen. He felt bad about what he'd said, and wanted to apologise, but then he thought about how they all had treated him and got all over again. It was when he was nervous or upset that he really ran at the mouth; if he went out there still feeling the way he did, he might say something _else_ he would regret.

So much for his resolution to keep quiet.

Still ... why was it okay for Garrett to tease _him_ , but not for _him_ to tease Garrett? It wasn't _fair_ ....

~ * * * ~

"You should be happy!"

Harold Hunter ran the silver head of his cane along the bars, driving the poor canines inside mad.

"I've brought your brother, Louis, back to you!" At that, one of the beasts threw itself against the bars, snapping. "Now, Louis, aren't you glad to be back with your packmates? And soon you'll have even _more_ of them, when I find that girl you ran into .... It's a bit annoying that you had to go and 'accidentally' switch bags with her and lose the talisman in the process, but this might work out for the better .... Yes, Fate works in mysterious ways. But don't for an instant think 'She' was helping _you_ out, Louis. Fate was leading _me_ to a _new prey_ , not hiding your family heirloom for you. Trust me, I'll find that pretty little witchling; I've never failed a hunt yet ...."

~ * * * ~

After a long while, Eduardo got himself together and came out of the kitchen. The others all had their noses buried in books, Egon and Janine at the desk and the younger Ghostbusters around the coffee table. Kylie was using Roland's physics book, since they had that class together. Eduardo got his own books out and laid his history book near her, as that was a class they shared. She didn't seem to notice. He sighed softly and tried to lose himself in algebra. He got lost, all right — he never _did_ understand it. But this time he felt too awkward to ask questions.

"Hey Eddy, what did you get for problem 30?" Garrett was in his algebra class. Eduardo knew the boy well enough to tell that this question was really Garrett's way of saying everything was okay between them, and that he was sorry. There was no way Garrett would trust an answer Eduardo had for their homework, after all.

"Whu?— Oh, ah, I dunno, man, I haven't gotten that far."

"Oh." The awkwardness had gotten so thick you could cut it with a proton beam.

Eduardo tried to start his homework. As he started to write, though, he found that the finger he'd pricked really hurt. He sucked on it, trying to relieve the pain.

"You ok?" Kylie's face was full of concern. Was she no longer mad at him?

"Uh, yeah, just hurts a little .... Did you find out who that bag belongs to?"

Kylie's eyes widened. "Oh! Y'know, I didn't even ..." She picked it up and started rummaging through it.

_Didn't even finish looking after I caused such a scene_ , Eduardo finished in his head.

Her brow furrowed. "There's no ID, nothing with the guy's name on it. Just some clothes!"

"What, was he on his way to a sleepover?" Eduardo quipped. "Hey, check his underwear, maybe he wrote his name on it!"

Garrett snickered appreciatively.

Roland ignored Eduardo's attempt at levity as he addressed Kylie. "Well, you had _your_ ID in _yours_ , right?"

Kylie nodded.

"Well then, I'm sure this guy'll look you up so he can get his _own_ stuff back," Roland reassured her.

Eduardo didn't like Ro's choice of words, that the guy would "look" Kylie "up"; it made him uncomfortable. "Oh, yeah, he's gonna be _real_ anxious to get back a cursed tooth and some ugly clothes. He probably stole the other bag in the first place, and thinks Kylie's stuff is better." At Kylie's stricken look, he amended, "Then again, how many people have that kind of taste?" She kicked him under the table. "Owww! I didn't mean it in a _bad_ way!"

Egon, having apparently been listening while he was researching, offered, "He may not even know what he had."

"But wouldn't he have been cursed by the object?" Eduardo asked. "Hard to imagine being cursed with lycanthropy and not _noticing_ ...."

"Oh, I don't think it would be that difficult," Kylie said sweetly, giving Eduardo's goatee a playful tug. He knew he should have protested, but he kind of enjoyed the contact ....

"Maybe, Maybe not," Egon replied. "We don't know _how_ the curse works yet. Let's _hope_ it's not a simple matter of touching the tooth, or we could _all_ be in trouble."

Janine looked up from her own book at that remark. "Oh, _Egon_! Can't the curse be _lifted_?" The others exchanged anxious glances.

"I don't know." Egon went back to reading.

Eduardo and the others tried to go back to studying, but he didn't think any of them learned anything new that night.


	2. Night Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang meet one Mr Harold Hunter. Eduardo's not impressed, but is Kylie?

The younger Ghostbusters were all sitting together in a shady spot on the campus, having lunch. It was Eduardo's turn to choose the music, so he'd cranked up his favorite "alternative" station. He suspected Kylie enjoyed it — although she would never give Eduardo the satisfaction of admitting it. Garrett seemed to enjoy it too, while Roland looked like he expected his ears to start bleeding any second. The stuffed shirt seemed quite relieved when a newscaster cut POE short.

"We interrupt this broadcast for a special news bulletin. Central Park has been closed to the public, due to a police investigation," the radio informed them. "Details are scarce, but it has been confirmed that there are several missing person reports for that vicinity, as well as numerous reports of vicious dog attacks. No news as to whether these reports are related."

"Excuse me."

The gang gave a collective jump of surprise at the strange voice. No one had even seen the source of it walk up!

"Are you Kylie Griffin?"

Kylie stood up and nodded, arching her eyebrow in question at the dapper stranger addressing her.

"My name is Harold Hunter. I believe this is yours." He held her backpack out to her.

"Oh! Thank the gods! I was afraid I'd never get this back!" She picked up the other bag off the ground and handed it to him.

"There was no ID or anything..." she explained, blushing, probably feeling bad for not making as much of an effort as the stranger apparently had.

"No, I keep my wallet in my coat pocket."

Eduardo took a good look at the man before them. He was a little older than them, a Senior to their Sophomore, maybe, perhaps even in graduate school. He was very classy, his hair slicked back, clean-shaven. He was dressed head to foot in black, save for a crisp white shirt beneath his sportscoat. He held a black bowler in one hand and a silver-knobbed black cane in the other. The last thing he noticed was the guy's smooth voice, as it finally occurred to him that the man continued speaking.

"... gise for running into you like that. You see, I was on my way to a very important appointment, and I was in quite a tizzy!"

" _Tizzy?_ " Eduardo murmured to Garrett. "Who says 'tizzy'?"

"Apparently _he_ does, " Garrett snickered back.

Kylie glared, and Eduardo suspected he'd just come very close to getting smacked upside the head.

If Harold had heard him, though, he didn't show it. "I hope you're all right?"

Kylie nodded, seeming dazed.

"Please let me make it up to you, my dear. How about dinner tonight, say 7:30? _Please_ say yes ...."

There was something about the way he said "Say yes" that made the hair on the back of Eduardo's neck stand on end. It sounded like a command, not a request. Kylie nodded again. She seemed mesmerized by this guy!

Eduardo wondered then how on Earth Mr Fancypants he ever found _her_ , just sitting outside like this .... Something wasn't right, here. "Ky, I thought we were going to study for midterms ...." Eduardo reminded her, stepping between her and "Harry", breaking their eye contact. Kylie blinked as if waking up. Then she focused on Eduardo, eyes narrowed, and he suddenly regretted interfering.

"I can study with you guys for a little while and _then_ go out. It's not like _I_ need to study that much!"

Eduardo sidestepped a little, stung.

Kylie smiled back at Harold. "Meet me at the Ghostbusters' firehouse. I know a great little pizza place down the street from there ...."

"Ghostbusters? My, that sounds _fascinating_! I can't wait to hear all about it!"

Eduardo didn't like the look in Harry's eyes. He felt his lip curl.

Harry paid him no mind. "Until tonight, my dear." He kissed her hand, then nodded to Roland and Garrett. "Gentlemen." He turned and walked off.

" _Down_ , boy," Garrett whispered to Eduardo.

Kylie continued to stare in the direction Harold had taken long after the man had disappeared from view. Her eyes held a vacant look. Eduardo watched her, torn between the desire to shake her back to her senses and the desire to chase after that guy, sink his teeth into his neck and —

What? Eduardo shuddered. Where had an impulse like _that_ come from? He cranked up Soundgarten and tried to lose himself in "Black Hole Sun".

  

~ * * * ~

As soon as Harold felt he was out of view, he opened the bag, dumping the contents on the ground. He scrambled through them, throwing things about. After a few long, fruitless moments, he finally let out a cry of frustration.

" _Louis_!!! _Where_ did you hide it?!?"

  

~ * * * ~

A ways off, across the campus, Kylie realized with a start that she hadn't gotten the talisman back from Egon. Ah well, she would just have to ask him for it before she saw Harold that night ....

 

~ * * * ~

"No, absolutely not."

".... What?" Kylie was completely thrown. She'd asked Egon for the necklace back so she could return it to its rightful owner! What was the problem?

"I said no. Either he knows what it is, in which case I'm not about to risk it falling into the wrong hands, or he _doesn't_ know, and we're protecting an innocent man."

"But ... but it _belongs_ —"

"To the Garou family. And I don't think even _they_ would want it back. We still don't know what this thing can do, Kylie, nor what this Harold fellow had planned for it."

"I don't think Harold is dangerous ...." She sighed, giving up. "All right, we'll hold onto it until we know more. But what'll I tell Harold if he asks about it?"

Egon shrugged. "Pretend you don't know what he's talking about."

Kylie went pale. "You want me to _lie_?"

"Ooooo, not a good way to start out a _relationship_ , chica..." Eduardo swallowed and took a step back when Kylie threw a menacing glare his way.

Egon ignored the exchange. "Kylie, we don't know anything about him. Are you wiling to risk the fate of the world over this?"

"Oh boy, here we go again," Garrett rolled his eyes. "' _Fate of the world_ ' is becoming as common a phrase around here as ' _Maybe he's dead_ '." He smiled sweetly at Eduardo.

Eduardo growled back at him.

Egon's voice softened. "Get to know him. Try to determine his interest, if any, in the talisman. If it turns out to be harmless after all, you can give it back to him and say it must have fallen out or something."

She wasn't happy about it, but she knew Egon was right. She and the others settled down to study until her date arrived.

 

~ * * * ~

Harold hit Louis through the bars with his cane. " _Where did you hide it?1_ " he screamed at the canine. He struck again, connecting with Louis' skull this time. The animal went down with a yelp, then was silent. Harold shook with fury as he slid down the bars, his back to the beasts. He wasn't worried about them hurting him through the bars, not in the slightest. The rest of the pack huddled against the opposite wall, trying to get as far away as possible.

He could feel their aura, feel the pattern of wolf and human energy dancing together. It was this sixth sense that told him Kylie was high in metaphysical energy, that she was psychic and practiced magic — that she was, in essence, a witch. He remembered the taste of her aura, savored it, studying it's every nuance — and realized something.

He turned to the wolves and started to laugh, slowly at first, then growing in his maniacal-ness.

" _She_ has it! She's a _Ghostbuster_ ; she probably even knows what it _is_! I know she _has_ to have it — now that I think on it, I felt one of _your_ kind near when I was with her. I didn't even notice at the time, I'm so used to being around _you_. No matter. Soon she will be added to my trophies, along with the talisman— _and_ that _new_ werewolf!"

 

~ * * * ~

What was the 'Magna Carta'?"

"The world's largest shopping cart?"

".... Can you be serious for even _one_ minute? I'm trying to _help_ you, Eduardo. _Don't_ waste my time."

"Oh, that's right, wouldn't want you to be late for your _date_ ...."

Kylie slammed her book shut. "That's right. And why _shouldn't_ I prefer to spend my time with someone with whom I can hold an _intelligent_ conversation?" She smiled sweetly, batting her eyes.

"Allll right, so maybe I'm _not_ Mr Billion Brain Cells, maybe I'm not Mr SophistiCATTY, but at least I'm not Mr Wouldn't Know a Good Time If I Had a Symbiotic Relationship With It, either!"

Garrett, of course, just had to ask what Eduardo knew they were all wondering. " _You_ know what _symbiotic_ means?"

"Eduardo," Kylie began, her voice cold and distant, "do you remember a conversation we had a while back about what we wanted out of life, and I said I wanted to travel around the world with a handsome, intelligent man? Can you guess, between you and Harold, which of you that I would choose to make that trip with?"

"F- _fine_!" Eduardo sputtered, hoping his face wasn't turning red as he felt his blood boil. "Ex _cuse me_ for _worrying_ about you! _Pardon me, chica,_ for not trusting guy who carries around _cursed objects_! And who said _I_ would want to make that trip with _you_ , anyw—"

" _Kyyyliiie!_ " Janine's called out from downstairs. "There's a Mr Harold Hunter here to see you!"

Eduardo saw Kylie's eye's dart between himself and the stairs. "I ... I ... _I'll be right there!_ " she called back to Janine, quickly gathering her things and running down the stairs, keeping her head down as she went.

Eduardo suspected, with a guilty twist in his gut, that she was hiding tears tears.

"Hey Eddy! We never _did_ get to hear what _you_ wanted that night ...." Garrett remarked.

_To be with **her**_ , came the answer in Eduardo's mind, without hesitation. Aloud, though, he replied, "To get a decent night's sleep, which is what I'm gonna go get right now!" He yawned and stretched. "Later, amigos."

He hoped they didn't hear the tremor in his voice or see it in his hands as he gathered his things. His head swam a little, and he felt a bit nauseated. In fact, he'd been feeling a little off all day. He wondered if it was because he was getting sick or because of the situation with Kylie and this Harry guy. In any case, sleep really did seem like a good idea, now that he'd mentioned it.

 

~ * * * ~

When they were outside and down the sidewalk a ways, Harold asked Kylie quietly and kindly if there was anything wrong, handing her his handkerchief and laying a comforting arm around her shoulders as he did so.

"Uh ... i-it's just allergies, I'm fine." Kylie cast a final, sad glance at the firehouse, just in time to see Eduardo leaving, clearly upset himself. _Serves him right_ , she thought. The whole scenario left a sick feeling in her stomach. She didn't think she would be able to eat ....

 

~ * * * ~

Eduardo was so upset he didn't think he'd be able to sleep at all. He was wrong, though; he was unconscious before his head hit the pillow.

And then his nightmare began.

 

~ * * * ~

Harold didn't ask about the necklace over dinner. Instead, he asked Kylie to tell him about ghostbusting. She poured out story after story, slowing only when she talked of the mouthy punk — which was actually fairly often. Noticing the faraway look she got in her eyes whenever she talked about her nuisance of a friend, Harold steered the conversation away from her adventures and onto her paranormal knowledge. He was both surprised and pleased by the extent of her repertoire; even in that short amount of time, he learned much that even an expert like himself didn't know.

Yes, it was quite a stroke of fortune that had led him to her ... He was going to have do something to dull her attachment to the young delinquent, though, what was his name? Edward?

When Kylie left the table a moment to "powder her nose", he took that opportunity to slip something into her drink. When she returned, he offered a toast to the Ghostbusters and their efforts for the protection of New York.

After drinking, Kylie made a face and asked, "Does your soda taste like diet too?"

 

~ * * * ~

"There it is!" Egon's shout startled Janine awake. She had fallen asleep with her chair tipped back, and the sudden movement caused her to fall crashing backwards. Egon rushed to her side and helped her up. When he had her standing, he brushed her off, apologising softly. They looked up at the same time, into each other's eyes. A strand of her auburn hair had fallen into her face; Egon gently brushed it back, his fingers lingering on her cheek. The light of the desk lamp played across her features, making her bright eyes and soft lips sparkle, her hair shine. She reached up and lightly traced the stubble along his jaw with her fingers. The glare from the computer screen reflecting off his glasses hid his eyes from her, so she took the glasses off and laid them on the desk. He smiled gently and did the same for her. She was so close that he could still see her almost perfectly, but his vision was blurred just enough to give her an angelic quality. He leaned in to kiss his angel.

They didn't allow themselves this luxury too often. Both were so dedicated to their organisation, it didn't leave much time for a personal life. They had tried to make it work several times, but other sciences always got in the way of their chemistry. And now, with the young Ghostbusters under their wing, they were like parents looking after their brood. Parents with four teens .... So they did their best to take each moment one at a time, and follow wherever it led, for as long as it lasted.

This time it lasted about 15 seconds, and led to a dead end.

"Whoops! Sorry!" Roland immediately turned around, walking right into Garrett, who was trying to get off the lift.

"Hey, what's goin' on up here?" He tried to get around Roland, doubtless not wanting to be on the lift an instant more than his claustrophobic self had to be. "Ewwww, were they doing what I think they were? It's like walking in on your _parents_ , man ...." he murmured to his friend, but Egon and Janine still heard him. They stepped apart, blushing.

"We, uh, h-heard a shout, and a ... crash ... and came to see ... i-if everything was all right ..." Roland explained over his shoulder, still not wanting to turn around. Garrett wheeled into Roland's legs, urging him off the elevator.

"It's, ah, it's okay, just ... just a little accident," Egon explained while Janine started straightening papers." Actually, I'm glad you're both up here. I've found something." He put his glasses back on and gestured towards a large, open tome on his desk. Roland and Garret came over to look at it.

"Well, it turns out the Garou family _didn't_ see the talisman as cursed. Or rather, they didn't view _lycanthropy_ as a curse. The talisman is a tooth from the first Garou, the clan matriarch. She was born with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf whenever she pleased, the catch being that she _had_ to change when the moon was full. She used this ability to hunt for food for her tribe. This was waaaay back in the late BCs, in Gaul, when women were often allowed to be warriors. Someone with powers like hers was highly honored. She discovered at one point that she could offer this gift to people outside of her descendants, by biting them while adorned with silver, on the night of a full moon. She would pick and choose those who would receive the gift, but others sought to steal it from her. When she finally was killed in battle, her kin burned her body to keep it from the enemy, but the man who'd killed her had managed to knock a tooth out during the fight, and kept it as a trophy. He discovered that the tooth could pass on the shapeshifting powers. The talisman was passed down among his descendants, and it was _they_ who called the item cursed, to dissuade others from ever taking it. They also hunted down the surviving members of the Garou family, but no talisman they made from any of the Garou they caught ever worked. The Hunters, as they became known, turned to hunting other magical beings for sport, hunting each in turn to extinction. They even hunted witches during the inquisition."

"Hunter... why is that name familiar?" Garrett's brow creased in thought.

Roland snapped his fingers, his eyes open wide, "Harold Hunter! The guy Kylie ... went ... out with tonight. Uh-oh ..."

Egon nodded. "That's right. You can guess what he wants with her."

"Well, it's not what I _thought_ he'd wanted, so actually, I feel better now," Garrett quipped. "Besides, if he hunts paranormal critters like we do, maybe we should get him to join the team!"

Egon shook his head. "He doesn't just hunt werewolves, Garret, he hunts _witches_ , remember? Kylie could be in great danger!"

Garrett scowled at his mentor, letting out a snort. "What, Kylie can hold her own against any old werewolf or witch! I'm sure they'll have a blast hunting them together! If he wants to hunt 'em, I say more power to him!"

Roland spoke to Garrett patiently, as if he were a child who didn't know any better, but you could tell he was irritated with his friend's attitude. "Garrett, what makes you think it's the werewolves and witches that are the problem?"

"Oh, gee, I dunno, maybe it's because they both have a history of _eating people_!"

"No they don't! Witches that eat people are just fairy-tales! And wolves don't make a habit of eating people either; there has never been any proof of a healthy wolf ever attacking someone in North America! Wolves are _afraid_ of humans. They're even actually very similar to us — they have families and social structures. In ancient days, shamans, the religious leaders of the indigenous tribal peoples of North America, were said to be able to take on animal forms, most commonly wolves. It was a highly prized and respected ability!

It was clear Garrett didn't believe him. They both looked to Egon for confirmation, who nodded for Roland to continue.

Roland, seeming to appreciate the encouragement, went on, "As for witches, they were a type of shaman, the healers, midwives, and wisemen of Europe. Those who practice 'witchcraft' today are generally reliving the ancient customs of honoring nature and the turn of the seasons. Those that call themselves Wiccans even have a law they call the Wiccan Rede, 'An it harm none, do what thou wilt,' which essentially states that you can live your life as you please so long as your harm no one and nothing — including yourself — to do it."

"Waitaminute, waitaminute... 'Wiccan' Rede? As in Wicc _a?_ I know a girl who's into that, she's in one of my classes, really sweet. You're telling me _she's_ a _witch_?!"

"Garrett," Roland tried hard to keep the edge out of his voice, and also tried not to sound too patronising, "the word 'witch' is though to _comes_ from the word 'wicca', or 'wicce,' an anglo-saxon word meaning either 'wise' or 'to bend', or _both_ , depending on the resource. So yes, a Wiccan _is_ a witch, though not all who call themselves witches consider themselves Wiccan ... At any rate, do you think that friend of yours is evil?"

"Well ... no."

"Is _Kylie_ evil?" Egon jumped in.

"No! Of course not! But what does _she_ have to do with it?"

Roland turned to Egon, too, Garrett's question mirrored in his face.

Egon wouldn't answer at first, wrestling with some inner conflict. _It's not my place to tell them — Kylie never even told_ me _, I just know about these things. But they need to understand that the danger to her is real. And I'm sure they'll understand; Roland already is accepting of the concept ..._ Quietly, Egon informed them, "Kylie is, for all intents and purposes, a witch: she practices magic and honours the elder gods. And judging from what we've seen her do, she could be quite formidable — which would make her an ideal challenge for a Hunter ...."

 

~ * * * ~

Kylie was in a daze. She'd forgotten all about her exams for the next day, all about her fight with Eduardo that night. All about the news report that had been on the radio that afternoon, warning people to stay out of Central Park. She thought nothing of it when Harold led her under the crime scene tape that surrounded it.

They walked in silence for while, arm in arm, the full moon lighting the way.

"Kylie," Harold finally began, his voice smooth as silk, "I think it's Fate that we met."

She nodded. She knew it _had_ to be.

He halted under a lampost. They faced each other. He held her chin in his hand, drawing her close ....

Harold screamed just before their lips touched. He spun around, hand pressed to his bottom; she could see a hole in the seat of his pants peaking through his fingers.

Kylie stepped sideways so she could see what had caused Harold to scream. She expected to see a mugger; instead she found a very large, very grungy, very _mean_ -looking dog. Very, _very_ large. If she didn't know better, she'd say that a wolf had escaped from the zoo. The dog (or whatever it was) was growling softly, its ears back and head low, a scrap of fabric hanging from its ferocious maw. One ear flicked, and she saw there was a gold hoop earring in it. There was something familiar about this dog ....

 

~ * * * ~

Janine tried calling Eduardo's house again. Still no answer. Roland, Garrett, and Egon had gone in the Ecto-1 to hunt for Kylie. They suited up quickly, waiting only that long for Janine to get a hold of him. Was he _so_ that tired he couldn't even hear the phone? Probably. Or maybe he wasn't home at all ....

 

~ * * * ~

Kylie wished she had her proton pack. Harold was fending the beast off with his cane, but the animal managed to get a few bites in. She knew she should go get help, but she didn't want to leave Harold. Besides, she was afraid that, if she ran, the dog would give chase; her head was so foggy that she wasn't sure she could run very fast.

While she frantically tried to think of what to do, the sound of sirens cut its way through the muffling fog. It was the guys! How had they known?

In moments, they had the mutt surrounded and were firing on the ground around it. It howled in fear and confusion, a sound that was almost human. Despite the fact that it had just used Harold for a chew toy, Kylie felt a pang of pity for the poor critter. Still, since it was a living being, she knew the guys wouldn't actually hit it with their proton beams. The dog seemed to know that too, as it suddenly ran straight toward them, escaping between Roland and Egon into the darkness.

Harold was panting, his eyes wild. "Th-thank-you! I don't know _what_ we would have done if—" He stopped in mid-speech when he found the proton guns trained on him.

Kylie stepped in front of him. " _What_ are you _doing_?!"

"I found out more about the talisman, Kylie. It seems our little 'friend' here is a descendant of its creator." Egon's eyes and aim never wavered from Harold.

Kylie and Harold both spoke at once.

"W-what? Egon, what are you saying?"

"The talisman! You _found_ it? Please, I must have it back!" He held out his hands imploringly.

Egon's eyes narrowed. "I don't think so, Hunter."

Harold raised his hands slowly into the air. "Well, it seems you have me at a disadvantage. Might I be permitted to tell _my_ side of the story?"

"This is crazy!" Kylie tossed her gaze back and forth between the four men. "Egon, he's _hurt_! We should take him to a hospital, and then fill out a police report about that dog!"

"No!" Egon and Hunter said simultaneously. Harold elaborated. "It's really not all that bad, my dear. Besides, your group is far better equipped to deal with a werewolf than the police are. Shall we retire to your firehouse, gentlemen?"

_Werewolf?!_ Kylie thought. Does that mean Harold will become one now? But the moon was still out and he wasn't changing .... Maybe it _was_ a good idea that they go back to the firehouse, so that she could look up werewolves in the books and make sure he wasn't affected.

Egon nodded in affirmative to Hunter, gesturing that he should get into the car.

"Would someone _kindly_ tell me what's going on?" Kylie asked as they all climbed in. Egon told what he knew while Roland drove, Garrett keeping his proton gun trained on Harold the whole trip. Harold stayed oddly calm and quiet ....


	3. Night Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is there a cure for lycanthropy?

Eduardo woke up in the wee early hours of the morning, feeling achy and feverish.

"Mmm, what a day to get the flu, man .... I got _midterms_ today .... And what was with that weird dream? The Kylie Nightmare Syndrome is getting out of hand ...." He crawled out of bed and discovered that he was naked, his clothes in a pile on the floor. "That's funny, I don't remember getting undressed ...."

His train of thought was derailed when he noticed that the message light on his answering machine was flashing. It was Janine. And Janine again. And Janine a third time, and a fourth. Something about the talisman and Harry Fancypants and Kylie. Kylie was in trouble! He was suddenly nauseated with fear (well, more so than he'd started out); those messages had been from _hours_ ago! Was Kylie okay?

He threw some clothes together that he _thought_ were clean. Good thing he'd taken a shower when he'd gotten home the night before! Hailing a cab, he made it to the firehouse in just a few minutes.

Once there, he scrambled up the stairs, shouting, "Egon! Janine! Roland! Garrett! Is anyone here? Slimer?!"

"E'war'o!" Slimer cried as he flew to greet the Ghostbuster, getting slime all over Eduardo's clean(?) clothes.

Eduardo was in such a frenzy that he didn't even get mad. "Where is everyone, slimeball, where's Ky —"

"Right here." Kylie was standing in the kitchen doorway, everyone else filing past her to greet him. He noticed vaguely that she was still in the same clothes she'd worn yesterday. So was everyone else, for that matter, including the dapper Harry, who wasn't looking so dapper this morning. The man looked like he'd been through a paper shredder. Eduardo felt an odd surge of satisfaction, just barely managing to keep the smirk off his face.

"Sooooo... You're all right then?" He asked Kylie, giving them all a questioning look. "I got your message, Jani-"

"Yeah, several hours _late_! Where _were_ you?" Janine tapped her foot on the ground, like a mother who's son stayed out past curfew.

"I-I ..." Why was _he_ in trouble here? "I have the flu or something. I was out cold all night ...."

Anger was apparently quickly traded for concern. She walked over and felt his forehead. "Oh, you're burning up! Come here and sit down! I'll make you some soup!" She led him over to the couch and got him settled, the others sitting around him. Within moments, there was a lot of clatter coming from the kitchen.

_Well, she couldn't mess up soup_ too _badly ..._ he hoped. He turned his attention to the group around him. "Maybe it's just the fever talking, but the world seems a little surreal this morning .... Would anyone mind filling me in?"

He could see Kylie, sitting next to him, out of the corner of his eye. He was relieved she was safe, _weak_ with it, even — more so than his illness alone could make him, he was sure. Did he see concern in her eyes? He was half afraid to look at her fully to find out, after the fight they'd had the night before ....

Egon brought Eduardo's attention back to the issue at hand, bringing him up to date on what they'd learned. He could feel his lip curling when Egon told him about the Hunters. And then, slowly, something dawned on him. He'd dreamt last night that he was a dog, and that he'd bitten this Harry guy when he was on his date with Kylie -- and now Egon had told him that Harry had been attacked by a _werewolf_ while on that date ....

He _knew_ he should say something to his friends, but he just couldn't give voice to his realisation, as if not speaking it aloud would make it not true.

Not that Janine's cooking was ever appetite-inducing, but even if it were from a five-star restaurant, he wouldn't have wanted the bowl she brought him now, feeling sick for a whole new reason besides the flu. Still, he forced himself to eat some of it, for her sake — and then found his that, despite what the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach said, the rest of his body craved the fuel so much, he didn't even notice the taste.

As he ate and Egon talked, Eduardo could swear he could feel Kylie's eyes on him. Eventually, when Egon was distracted by a question from Roland, Eduardo braved a glance her way. She was definitely looking at him — Was that wonder on her face? It was gone too quickly for him to tell; Harry squeezed her hand, and she glanced at him, blushing.

_Huh! And here_ I _was worrying about_ her _, when_ she's _been consorting with the **enemy**!_ Eduardo looked away in disgust, putting the bowl on the table.

"What a sour face! Is Janine's soup _that bad?_ " Kylie wispered.

He almost smiled at that. Almost.

"So anyway," Egon returned to his recapping, having apparently answered Roland's question, "we've learned from Harold here that things aren't _quite_ what we thought." Egon looked to Harry then.

Harry smiled and gave Kylie's hand another reassuring squeeze before getting into the discussion. "The talisman is a family heirloom, it's true, but it was lost a couple of centuries ago. I saw it up for auction when I went to an estate sale. I knew it was Fate, an unmissable opportunity to destroy the evil thing once and for all!" He had a look on his face like he'd just stepped in something foul. "I was on my way to do just that when I ran into Kylie here." He looked into her eyes, holding her hand like he was drowning and she was a life preserver. "At least _some_ good has come from the wicked thing's creation."

The hair on Eduardo's neck stood on end again. There was something about the way Harry looked at Kylie, the way he held on to her and spoke to her. The way she hung on his every word. _She never hangs all over_ me _like that..._ Of course, she didn't consider him a potential boyfriend, either, he reminded himself soberly, his anger dimming into self-pity.

"Well, it's all over and done with now," said Egon. "I destroyed the talisman myself before we left to find Kylie last night."

If Harry's ice-cold composure faltered ever so slightly, if his eyes narrowed, just for a moment, no one else noticed. He smiled. "Good. I'm glad it's gone. But I'm afraid it isn't over."

There was a collected murmur of "Huh?" and "What do you mean?"

"Well, there's still a werewolf at large."

Eduardo sank back into the couch. He tried to work up the nerve to speak his theory aloud, but just couldn't find his voice.

But Garrett, unsuprisingly, had no trouble finding his. "Ooooh, yeah, what _are_ we gonna do about the big, bad werewolf, Egon?"

"Garrett, I told you, just because it's a werewolf doesn't mean it's evi-" Roland began.

"I beg to differ, my good man. Family history aside, this werewolf has attacked several people. It must be stopped."

Harry's words made Eduardo more nauseated than ever, but also helped him find his voice. "What if... What if he can't help it? I mean, what if he's an innocent man under he spell of the talisman?"

Harry leaned in. He let go of Kylie, and steepled his fingers together in front of him. His face was like stone, so that Eduardo couldn't tell if the man took remorse or pleasure in his next words, "Then I'm afraid yet another evil has been committed in the name of the Garou family. As you can see, destroying the talisman did not end the curse, for the werewolf still attacked us last night. There is no cure. The poor soul, if he is indeed innocent, will go on attacking every full moon, for the nights before, of and after — three days in all, each month. Tonight will be my last chance to stop him until next month."

" _Your_ last chance?" Garrett asked.

Harry smiled tightly. "Yes. I know how to handle this, let _me_ take care of it. There are plenty of unhappy dead in this city for you to occupy yourselves with."

"But ..." Kylie began (with all concern directed towards Harry, Eduardo noted sourly), "but you've never _hunted_ any of them ... have you?"

"Yes my dear, in fact I have, many of them my own relatives, as well as several members of the Garou clan." He laid a hand on her cheek. "Do not worry, my dear. I was caught off guard last night; I thought I had gotten them all. Apparently I missed one. I'll take care of it, and then my time will be my own and we can have many more long talks about the paranormal, like the one we had last night."

He stood. "For now, I must get ready for tonight." He put on his hat, tipped it, kissed Kylie's hand and then Janine's, and walked down the stairs. No one escorted him out.

 

~ * * * ~

"You didn't _really_ destroy it, did you Egon?"

"No, Kylie, I didn't. He's not a Garou, it doesn't belong to him. And in case any of us _is_ cursed, I'm not going to destroy or give away what might be our only means of finding a cure."

Kylie saw the sense in what Egon was saying, but she couldn't help but feel betrayed.

"Egon, is there _any_ way we can adjust the proton beams to stun and hold the werewolf without harming it?" Roland sounded desperate to find a way to save what he felt was a misunderstood victim.

"Oh, sure, Ro, and then what?" Garrett interceded. "Put it in a _zoo_?"

Egon ignored Garrett. "Roland, work on it. I'm sure if you lower the settings and adjust the ..." he began, going into a long stream of technical jargon.

Eduardo, Kylie saw, began to nod off; in moments he was lightly snoring. Kylie and Janine stretched him out along the length of the couch, Kylie covering him with a blanket.

"Poor guy..." Garrett said quietly, in a rare moment of sympathy. Janine nodded in agreement, but Garrett apparently wasn't done. Kylie just barely heard him mutter to Roland, as he wheeled away, "It must have killed him, seeing her all over Harry like that ...."

She frowned at Garrett's back. She hadn't been "all over" the man! Besided, Eduardo didn't _really_ feel that way, wasn't _actually_ attracted to her! He was only _teasing_ her when he flirted! Kylie tried to shake Garrett's insinuation away as she lay a blanket over Eduardo. She felt his forehead; he was very feverish now. Watching him, memories of those flirtations gnawed at her, taking on a new light — as did other ones. Like that night on that balcony, when he'd saved her, and things had felt so strange between them for a moment ....

"Kylie ...." he murmured feverishly, suddenly seeming agitated.

"I'm here," she told him, caressing his cheek soothingly; he relaxed, falling into a deeper sleep.

_What if Garrett's_ right? _Eduardo's so tough, so goofy, such a selfish jerk on the outside. I guess I never really looked past all that before. Inside it seems he's just a scared little boy, so vulnerable — I want to hold him, protect him. And yet, beneath even that, I_ know _there's something deeper still inside him: courage and strength. Like when I fell off that balcony! He'd be really irresistible if he would just let that inner core, the vulnerability_ and _the strength, shine through the show more often ...._

She looked around. The others were still clustered around Egon. She gave Eduardo a gentle kiss on the temple before joining them.

 

~ * * * ~

"Soon, my friends, soon you'll have another playmate ... the very _last_ of your kind, in fact, thanks to me!" Harold's menacing smile softened. " _Then_ what will there be for me to do? Now that the necklace is gone, I can't make _more_ of you. I suppose I could _breed_ you, release you and your young on some vast property and catch you over and over ..." He sighed. "Well, there's still 'witch-hunting', but that's a whole different sort of 'hunt', now isn't it?"

 

The young Ghostbusters skipped their classes that day. Luckily Egon was good friends with a few of their teachers, so he could smooth things over for them, and get their midterms rescheduled. Eduardo's reason for being excused form classes was different than the rest of them, though; rather than doing research or working on the proton guns, he slept all day. For once, no one gave him flack for it.

By evening, Roland and Garrett were satisfied that they had modified the beams to safely contain a living creature. Roland installed a cage in the back of the Ecto-1. When it was time to go, they would have to help Garrett into the back seat and fold up his chair.

Meanwhile, Kylie had found an entry on stopping lycanthropy. It stated that, unlike what popular fiction depicted, silver did not harm a werewolf. Instead, it explained, contact with it locked them into their animal form, while contact with wolfsbane made them human. The two combined, however, such as a silver dagger laced with wolfsbane oil, would leave a wound that wouldn't immediately heal, and would poison the beast. The poison would make the human and wolf sides "war" to be in control. If the poor being survived the struggle, it would bear a nasty scar from the wound.

Of course, the Ghostbusters wouldn't resort to such drastic such methods, but Egon said he was afraid that Hunter might.

By late evening, they were ready to leave, Janine included. Eduardo was still out cold when they left; Kylie almost stayed behind, but didn't want to leave her companions to face the werewolf — or Hunter — alone ....

 

~ * * * ~

Harold stood in the park, right where the werewolf had ambushed him. His own pack of wolves were milling about his legs. Each wore the silver collars he'd put around their necks when he'd caught them, and each had a vacant look in their eyes.

"Soon, my pets," he murmured, "Soon it will be feeding time ...."

 

~ * * * ~

_Ohhhhh boy, here we go again ...._ Eduardo thought to himself. Just as the night before, he had awakened to find himself in the body of a dog. Well, a _wolf_ , he supposed now. He hadn't been alarmed the first time because he thought he was dreaming. He wasn't so sure this time. _Funny, I don't_ feel _like eating anyone._

He looked at the clock. 10:27 pm. The others were out werewolf-hunting. The joker in him couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the situation #&151; them leaving to find what was right under their noses. He should have been relieved. If _he_ was the werewolf, if _he_ was _here_ and _they_ were gone, then both he _and_ they were safe from _each other_.

But he couldn't shake the bad vibes he'd gotten from Harry. There was something the man was hiding, and it wasn't in regards to the werewolf. Something about how he acted towards Kylie. Eduardo tried to tell himself it was just jealousy, but he couldn't shake the feeling she was in danger. He had to find her.

He made his way down the stairs, finding it difficult to descend on all fours, but managing. The door out would be a bigger issue #&151; Except that the garage door was open.

Janine was usually the one to close it after they left in the Ecto-1. She must have gone with them, to take his place. It was rare that she helped with the actual ghostbusting, but she'd proven herself in the field before. They probably thought they could use all the help they could get ....

~ * @ * ~

 

A few people actually gawked at seeing a wolf lope down the streets of New York. A few, but not many. And even the ones that did didn't care anymore when it disappeared from sight, hot on the trail of the Ecto-1.

 

~ * * * ~

It wasn't long before the Ghostbusters came across Harold. He was just sitting on a park bench, alone.

"I thought you were gonna go bag a big bad werewolf!" Garrett mocked him.

"I am," the dapper gent replied calmly. "In my experience, stay in one place long enough and the prey will come to _you_."

Kylie's intuition was going nuts. Part of her trusted Harold unquestioningly. Another, deeper part was screaming that something was desperately wrong. But which part should she listen to?

Harold patted the seat next to him. "Sit, my dear. It would have been better if you'd stayed away, but I confess that I am happy you _did_ come."

Garrett kept looking around, like a shell-shocked soldier expecting to be hit any moment. "Aren't you _afraid?!?_ That werewolf nearly tore you to _pieces_ last time, and you still don't even have a weapon!"

"Don't I, now? Appearances can be deceiving, my boy."

There was a low growling from behind them. And in front of them. And to the left. To the right. Glowing eyes burst forth from the darkness, beyond the trees, followed by four snarling wolves. They were surrounded!

So caught up were her companions in the appearance of the pack, they ignored Harold entirely when he pulled out a rapier from within his cane. And Kylie found she had no voice to warn them.

Garrett started their usual signal to fire. "On three, everybo—"

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you." Harold held the rapier to Kylie's throat, and she could work up the will to do anything about it! "Geez, what a glory-hound!" Garrett complained.

She saw her companions come to stand back to back in a circle, to face the wolf pack, tensed to fire if one attacked. She wanted to tell them to forget about her and escape — she'd gotten them into this mess in the first place — but her voice remained mute, her body equally unresponsive.

 

~ * * * ~

Eduardo figured the first place his fellow Ghostbusters would look for him ... er, the werewolf, would be Central Park, where all the sightings had been, and where they had encountered him last time. He'd lost the Ecto-1's trail fairly quickly, so that was where he headed, taking shortcuts. When he was just a block or two away, he heard the howling. _More_ wolves?!? The gang was in worse trouble than he'd thought! He picked up his speed, running faster than he thought his four legs cold carry him, which was ten times faster than his human ones ever could. Soon he reached the park. It was just moments more when he reached the clearing he'd confronted Harry at before.

And there the man was.

So were the rest of the Ghostbusters — including Kylie, whom Harry had captive with a blade to her throat.

The world went red.

Without thinking, Eduardo burst through the trees, landing between the Ghostbusters and Harry.

"Oh wonderful, it's a slacker-wolf, coming late to the party! Who knew werewolves had 'em too!" Garret shouted upon seeing him.

_Oh, if you only knew, compadré_ , Eduardo thought.

His sudden arrival set the other wolves off; they attacked the Ghostbusters, who managed to trap them with their altered proton beams. Eduardo slipped past, heading for Hunter and Kylie as the team watched helplessly, doubtless thinking he was on Hunter's side.

Eduardo saw Egon throw him a panicked look before the man started shouting orders to the team. "Janine! Roland! Drive your wolves to the Ecto-1 and get them locked inside! Then hurry back and help Kylie!" With his new canine-hearing, Eduardo heard Egon add to Janine, "I just hope both of the beasts will _fit_ ,"

" _I_ hope all our packs don't run out of juice before we figure out what to do with the other two!" Janine replied. "And that Kyle doesn't get hurt by Hunter or that other wolf!"

_Not if I can help it,_ Eduardo thought to himself.

Eduardo didn't know what to _do_ , though. Every muscle in his body ached to leap and attack Harry, but he was afraid that if he did, Harry would slit Kylie's throat faster than he could reach them. He paced back and forth in front of the pair, head low, growling a warning, desperately trying to think of something he could do but finding his human mind fogged by his wolf side, even as he found it much easier to control than he'd imagined it would be.

Harold removed his blade from Kylie's neck, shoving her forward. She just stood there. "I was wondering if you were ever going to show up, boy ...." Then, to Kylie, "Hit him with your proton gun!"

To Eduardo's horror, despite the fact that Harold had taken Kylie's life into his hands just seconds ago, she hesitated only a moment before obeying. The wolf was already leaping at Hunter when he'd given the command, but was shot down by her proton beam and fell to the ground with a yelp.

Harold got ready to take a swing at the wolf with his blade. The sword glistened like it was already wet with something other than blood when he arched it over his head.

 

~ * * * ~ 

_There's something familiar about that wolf_ , Kylie thought through the haziness in her mind. She noticed the gold earring in its ear. _It's the same wolf that attacked us before!_ But there was something more to it than that. As she stared at it, she could hear a voice, one that echoed in her memory.

_Excuuuse_ me _for_ worrying _about you! ..._

She wasn't really sure why, but suddenly she felt very protective of the wolf — and very angry with Harry. She let go of the trigger, releasing the wolf from the beam, and shot Harry instead.

Only it didn't work.

Harry was not stopped by the proton beam. The wolf rolled out of the way as Hunter completed his swing, its shoulder getting grazed by the sword.

It howled in agony. It seemed to shimmer before her, and she swore she could see familiar eyes in its face.

" _EDUARDO?!?_ "

Harry moved to strike again. Kylie shooting him once, but it did nothing but distract him. He laughed at her. Eduardo charged weakly from behind — and fell right through the man! He didn't rise again, the effort apparently having taken the last of his strength. She prayed it hadn't taken his life as well!

Roland ran up beside her, PKE meter out. "He's a _ghost_!"

"Well, it's about time one of you figured it out! Some Ghostbusters _you_ turned out to be! Your little toys don't even have any effect on me! I'd hoped you'd be more sport than this!"

Kylie saw Roland immediately set to work on altering the settings on his proton gun back to what they once were, and copied him.

 

~ * * * ~ 

"My wolf's in the cage; I'll take over for you," Janine announced to Egon. "You go help the kids!"

"Don't worry," Egon told the secretary-come-Ghostbuster before rushing off to help the others with Hunter. "I have a feeling that, once we defeat hunter, the wolves won't be a problem."

He came to stand beside Roland, and started adjusting his own pack.

 

~ * * * ~

"My gun's depleted," Garrett said as he wheeled up beside Kylie.

"Mine's not," she told him, handing over her newly-adjusted proton gun to him. She then ran over to help Eduardo.

His body was melting back and forth between wolf and human. She held him tight, terrified for him. She had realised that the wetness on Hunter's blade had been wolfsbane oil, his rapier made of silver. Eduardo was dying.

_Please!_ she begged her gods. _Please heal him! Please help me save him!_

 

~ * * * ~

Harold tried to re-establish his control over Kylie, but to no avail. Still, neither she nor her wolf-boy posed a threat to him at the moment. He focused his attention on the three that were.

With a flick of his left hand, he sent the wheelchair-bound boy flying, chair and all, against a tree. A split-second later, he brought his rapier down on Roland. Roland turned quickly aside, to avoid the blow; Harold's rapier went partially though it, severing wires. The burst of electricity that was released knocked Roland out cold. Harold made to finish Roland off.

 

~ * * * ~ 

"Hold it, Hunter, or you'll never see your precious talisman again!" Egon called out, holding the tooth up.

Hunter's eyes grew wide with the hunger for power. "My talisman!" he screeched. "Give it to me, human! With it I can make a world _full_ of werewolves, and hunt them for _eternity_! Give it to me, and I will give you your friend's life!" He laid the sword at Roland's throat.

"ATOH!" came Kylie's voice from behind them. She stood over Eduardo with her hands clasped in front of her face, as if in prayer. "MALKUT!" She drew her hands down, still palm-to-palm, in front of her chest.

"The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram? Are you _serious_?!?" The ghost laughed. "You haven't got an athame, and even if you did, you# &151;"

Egon used the distraction to make one final adjustment on his pack. Then he opened fire. " _Kylie! NOW!_ " he cried, as the proton beam immobilized Hunter.

Kylie threw the trap. In moments, the ghost was snug inside it.

Which was a very good thing, since Janine's pack had just given out. The remaining wolf shook its head as it came out from under Hunter's trance. Then it tried to pull its collar off with its paws, whining like it was nothing more than a big, friendly retriever. A glance at the cage told him that the other three were similarly changed.

Satisfied that the remaining wolf was no threat, Egon and Janine revived Garrett and Roland, making sure the young men suffered no serious injury.

 

~ * * * ~

Kylie held a convulsing Eduardo-wolf in her arms, a hand pressed to the wound in his shoulder. She looked to the moon, low in the sky, the tears in her eyes glistening in its light. Dawn would come soon, but would Eduardo live to see it? She shed her moonlit tears on his slowly stilling form. After a little while, his struggles ceased entirely.

 

~ * @ * ~

" _EDUARDO?!?_ "

The others came running over when Kylie cried out, including the werewolves. (Egon had assured the other Ghostbusters that the werewolves posed no threat, and gotten them to go set the other three in the Ecto-1 loose and remove all the collars.) With the moon setting, the beasts were slowly returning to their human forms. Now they all surrounded the pair.

Egon and the others were collectively shocked to find Eduardo lying there naked in Kylie's arms, instead of resting at the firehouse.

"Oh, _Egon_! We should have _realised_ —"

"I know, Janine." He laid a hand on her shoulder. "But Kylie, why is he unconscious?" He figured she was crying simply from learning that the boy had been cursed. Eduardo had a gash on his shoulder, but it didn't look bad, and his nakedness didn't allow for a more serious injury to be hidden.

Kylie just sobbed.

An image of Hunter with the sword pressed to Kylie's throat flashed through Egon's mind. He realized what Kylie clearly already knew. He bent down, desperately looking for a pulse. He didn't have to look hard. "He's alive!"

Kylie looked up at him, hope blooming in her eyes. Maybe Eduardo's wound was shallow enough that his body was fighting off the poison.

"Let's get him back to the firehouse!" Egon barked, not elaborating. He pried the young man from a stunned Kylie's arms and gave him to Roland, who slung him over his shoulder and ran back to the Ecto-1, the others close behind.

Kylie got in first, and Roland handed Eduardo to her. The others piled in, Egon, Roland, and Janine up front, Garrett and his folded chair in the back seat with Kylie and Eduardo, and the werewolves, who were now more human than wolf, in the cage for lack of room. The werewolves put on the four extra suits that were kept in the Ecto-1; Janine had found a blanket to wrap Eduardo in. Roland put on the siren and floored it.


	4. Night Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poisoned on top of being cursed?? Eduardo's really having a rough time -- or is he?

When they were settled and on their way, Garrett apparently decided it was time for explanations. "Ok, so what _was_ all that goin' on back there? Harry was a _ghost_?"

Egon answered almost absently. "Harold Hunter was _the_ Hunter, the man who killed the Garou Matriarch. He loved hunting werewolves so much that he continued to do it even after death. When all the werewolves were gone, he used the talisman to make more. Am I right?" He directed the question to the werewolves in the back.

"I feel like I'm in Scooby-Doo rerun," Garrett muttered.

Ignoring him, one of the Garou nodded. "Yeah, but 'e not manage to kill us all off, or even catch all of us, until recen'ly." Louis Garou's voice was soft, and had a cajun lilt to it. "We fo' are de last. I escape, an' take de talisman wit' me. Den I run into dis pretty p'tite, 'ere." He motioned to Kylie, who until then only had eyes for the wounded man in her arms.

She looked up at his geture, eyes wide. "That was _you_?"

He nodded. "'Arry must've seen us collide, seen you pick up my bag, an' follow you." He looked at her with a blatant stare of open curiosity. "You have de glow of de witch abou' you, in yo' aura."

Egon noticed Kylie twitch at that, her secret stated as if it were common knowledge. And then Egon remembered that, to her, it _wasn't_. He'd have to have a talk with her ....

"Hunter hunt witches during de inquisition, t'reaten to expose dem if dey not obey 'im. 'E practice on dem and become a master of de mental manipulation. 'E have dem teach 'im 'bout herbs, and use dat knowlege to drug 'is victims. 'E nevah resist de pretty face, such a prize! 'E pro'lly 'tink gettin' you wit' de talisman an extra bo-nus!"

Kylie closed her eyes in a pained expression and bowed her head. "And I became his latest drugged victim -- no wonder I felt so foggy all the time! And couldn;t tell how evil he was ...."

"Hey, none of _us_ did either, Garrett insisted; she gave him a small smile that didn't meet her eyes.

Egon figured it was probably best, for her sake, that he didn't point out that _he_ hadn't really trusted the man.

"Hunter tol' us dat 'e knew de p'tite mus' have de talisman, dat 'e would take it — an' 'er, too. 'E decided de o'ter Ghos'busders migh' make good _loup garou_ , werewolves. 'E sensed dat one o' you a'ready is." He gestured to Eduardo's still form.

"Yes, I should have realised that he _would_ be," Egon admitted, aggravated with himself.

Roland took his eyes off the road for a moment to give the man a perplexed look. " _How_? And _why_?"

"The tooth is set in silver. Eduardo pricked his finger with it," Egon explained. Really, wasnt it obvious now?

"AND???" Garrett prompted.

Janine elaborated. "He did it during a full moon. According to the legend, the Garou matriarch could grant others her power by biting them while wearing silver during a full moon."

"Um ... I thought Eduardo did that on the day before the full moon, and in the middle of the afternoon..." Roland pointed out.

"To de loup garou, de day before and de day after is good 'nuff, non?"

"Oh, _well_ then ..." Garrett muttered.

Then he finally put together what they were saying. "Waitaminute-- you're saying _Eddy_ here was one of the wolves last night?!?" Egon stared at him as if he had suddenly revealed to them that the sky was blue, and found the others looking atthe boy just as incredulously.

Garrett seemed to realise how daft his question sounded. "So, uh, why is he hurt, then? I mean, don't you guys have like super-healing, like Wolverine?"

Kylie's voice was so soft, Egon had to strain to hear her. "He was hit by Hunter's rapier while trying to save me."

"Soooooo ... what does that _mean?_ I mean, why hasn't he _healed_ yet?" Garrett pressed.

Louis offered, "De rapier, it be made of silver an' laced wit' de wolfsbane. Dat be a bad combo to de Garou, non?" He might have been discussing the weather, the way he said it.

The silence in the car told Egon that his students and Janine all remembered what Kylie had discovered in her research about that combination.

Kylie began to sob again, her face pressed against Eduardo's chest.

"Hey ..." his voice came weakly. He ran a hand through her hair. "You all right, chica?"

"Eduardo?!?" She looked him in the face, eyes wide with shock and red with crying. She smiled and laughed faintly, clearly not quite believing what she was seeing; Egon didn't blame her. Kylie touched Eduardo's face, probably to reassure herself that he _was_ alive, that she wasn't dreaming.

Roland pulled over to see the miracle, turning off the siren. The Ghostbusters all expressed their relief with soft words and gentle squeezes of Eduardo's arm -- the good one -- their eyes suspiciously wet, even Garrett's.

" _How?_ " Janine asked Egon in a whisper. He just shook his head in reply, baffled himself.

The Garou, with their superior senses, had aparently heard Janine's question. The seemed baffled themselves, but it turned out only in that the Ghostbusters seemed surprised. "Is dat what all de hurry was about? You t'ought 'e migh' still die?" Louis gave them a curious look. "But 'e was betta' b'fo' we even git in de ca'!"

Janine was the first to interpret the mans accent. "What do you mean, he was already better before we got in the car? How did you know? How did he fight the poison?"

It was clear by the glances they exchanged that the Garou thought the Ghostbusters were a bit thick. Louis spoke patiently, as if trying to answer an errant child who kept asking _why_. "Well, 'e wasn' bouncing back an' forth between de man an' de wolf by den, was 'e? An' 'e was still alive, so 'e 'ad to been rid of de poison. De struggle, it don' stop till de poison be cleansed out of yo' blood or you be dead!"

"But how was the poison stopped?" Roland pressed.

Louis smiled. "De moon-blessed tears o' de witch, dey be powerful proof agains' poison, non?" He winked. "She believed, she wished 'ard enough, an' 'er magic 'ealed 'im."

Sure enough, when they looked at Eduardo's shoulder, they saw that the wound was healed over, a white scar in its place.

"Really," Loius went on, "anyone can be a witch if'n 'dey tried 'ard enough, but it come mo' easily for some den others. An' she been doin' it fo' a long while, I be suspectin' ...."

Kylie tensed as she looked at her companions, probably worried what they thought about this revelation of her "witchiness". Egon offered her a grateful smile, and saw similar expressions on the other Ghostbusters. Glancing around, Kylie relaxed.

"I suppose I have — but I've never done anything like _that_ before. Not without a spellbooks or some sort of artefact ...."

"Eh, you was under pressure, so dat 'elped you use your power wit'out a crutch. An' I bet if you practise, you could do more on yo' own, now!"

"Healing magic'd be pretty damn useful," Garrett encouraged her.

"You can say that again," Eduardo chimed in.

"I guess it would," Kylie agreed, grinning; she gave Eduardo a squeeze, then rest her head on his shoulder. "Sure takes a lot out of you, though."

Egon supposed he didn't need to talk to her after all, now ....

"Yeah, I think we're _all_ feeling a bit drained, after last night!" Roland said wearily.

As if in proof, they rode in silence for a while — at least until it was apparently Eduardo's turn to be self-conscious.

"Um ... where are my _clothes?_ "

 

~ * * * ~

" _You mean I'm_ stuck _like this_?!?" Eduardo cried around a bit of donut, almost choking on it.

Garrett slapped him on the back, a little harder than necessary. "Now _there's_ the way ta go, survive being hunted down by a ghost for being a werewolf, only to be done in by a Krispy Kreme!"

Kylie, seated to his left on the shabby couch, put her arm around him, rubbing his good shoulder reassuringly. He smiled tenderly at her before Louis caught his attention again.

"No' really. You _always_ be a loup garou now, bu' you don' _'ave_ to be a wolf, non?"

"Uh, translation, please, 'Gambit'?" Garrett raised his hand in question.

Egon spoke up. "He means that, while there's no cure for lycanthropy, there _is_ a way to suppress the symptoms — keep you from transforming."

Eduardo leaned forward over the table, both anxious and annoyed. "Ok, I'll bite," he winced and the others groaned at his unintended pun. "How?"

"Wolfsbane."

"Ohhhhh no!" Eduardo shook his head and waved his hands in an emphatic gesture. "Been there, done that, man! If it weren't for Kylie..." He squeezed her hand gently, a quiet thank-you.

Loius smiled warmly, amused. "Wolfsbane only be poisonous if combined wit' silver an' brought in contact wit' de _blood_. Skin contact wit' dat combo be painful, but no' fatal. Wolfsbane by i'self keep de wolf away, like silver by i'self keep the _man_ away. Jus' tink of it as 'avin' an alle'gy to silver, non? — stay away from it, an' you stay a man."

Eduardo wasn't exactly _happy_ , but he nodded.

"Look at it this way, Eddy: now you can be a superhero!"

The others scowled at Garrett. "That's not funny —" Janine began.

"No, no, hear me out! He's pretty much invulnerable now, right?"

"Well, not _exactly_ ," Egon quibbled.

Garrett huffed, impatient. "Yeah, yeah, he can get hurt, but he heals real fast, just so long as he doesn't get killed before he can heal, yadda yadda. But it's still a step up from the rest of us, and a pretty cool one!"

Eduardo thought about it while the others deliberated, the conversation eventually moving on to other things. Garrett was right, this _could_ be a good thing. But how did Kylie feel about his being part wolf now? How could _anyone_ not see it as _monstrous_?

 

~ * * * ~

When Kylie got out of the shower, she found everyone fast asleep all over the living room. Everyone, that was, but Eduardo. He wasn't in the room at all.

She shook Roland gently awake. "Your turn for the shower," she murmured. She found Eduardo in the kitchen bare-chested still and bathed in golden light as he looked out the window. She enjoyed the view for a long moment before walking up beside him. She touched him lightly on his scarred shoulder with the back of her fingers. "Hey."

He looked at her, smiling sadly. "Hey."

Her hand slid slowly, softly down his arm before she stepped back. She leaned against the window, still facing him slightly.

 

~ * * * ~ 

He turned to face her more. She looked so beautiful in the twilight, her wet hair glistening, leaving sparkling beads of water on her glowing skin, her white tank-top turned to gold with the sun's dying touch. He held on to the moment, burning the image into his mind, lest he never see it again.

It took him a while to meet her eyes; when he did, he found them luminous with an inner light, one that spoke of a kind and loving soul. It was a side she often hid behind a veil of sarcasm. A side he realised now was part of the reason he'd fallen in love with her, having sensed it was there even if he didn't think it had ever been directed at _him_ before. And yet ... he loved the cranky, sarcastic side just as much!

She held out her hand to him, closed and face down. She told him to hold out his own hand, and he obeyed, an unspoken question on his lips. She opened her hand into his, then drew it back, caressing his fingers lightly as she did. He had a hard time drawing his eyes away from her porcelain visage to see what she'd given him. When he did, he found a little black bag with a pentagram embroidered on it in gold thread, waiting on his palm.

"It's a _wonga_ bag. I made it while you were in the shower. The Garou promised to bring some dried wolfsbane for you to put in it."

He looked back up at her. His eyes were glistening, and he found he was unable to speak for a moment. Then finally, softly, "Thank you." Louder, "Thank you for being so understanding, for not—" his voice broke, tears falling,"— not walking away ...." he finished in whisper. He knew all too well how easy it was to be abandoned; his own family had taught him that. Eduardo had gotten used to the idea that, sooner or later, everything he came to care for would leave him ....

"Shhhhhh ..." she soothed him, her own eyes glittered with unshed tears in the fading light.

 

~ * * * ~

Forgotten was all the teasing, all the frustration they had made each other feel, leaving bare and raw other, deeper feelings she'd had for him, long denied. Her grief from when she'd lost him and subsequent relief that he'd survived came rushing at her, a torrent that threatened to wash away all sense of the self she thought she knew in the tears that now streamed down her cheeks.

Caught up in the rush of emotion, she kissed him, urgently, a drowning woman clinging to the only thing left in her ocean of awareness.

 

~ * * * ~

Once the initial shock passed, he kissed her back, hungrily. He reveled in the warmth of the joy that now flooded through him, banishing the cold, lonely emptiness that had settled in the pit of his stomach. Warmth grew into a heat that threatened to consume him. He'd been waiting for this moment since they'd first met, craved it more than anything he'd ever wanted in his life, yet never truly dared to hope or believe it would actually happen.

 

~ * * * ~ 

Pent-up, fiery passion met her own tidal wave of emotion, in a maelstrom of a kiss that left them both winded.

"Thank _you_ for _saving_ me," she told him after catching her breath. "It doesn't bother me that you're a werewolf now, if that's what's got you so serious all of the sudden." She smiled coyly. "It's ... _interesting._ Wolves are special animals, not at all what the stories make them out to be." Her smile faded though, as she remembered that her own secret was out now. Fear gripped her heart, numbing it. "Does it bother _you_ that I'm a _witch_?" she asked tentatively.

He answered her with a kiss, soft but lingering this time, the touch of his hands on her back comforting, tender. Their ardor simmered now, becoming slow and sensuous. His goatee tickled her, but she found she liked it; his scruffiness, his bad boy exterior, was very alluring. She supposed she'd always felt that way, but only now allowed herself to appreciate it.

"You've _always_ been a witch, right?"

Still breathless, she simply nodded, having forgotten for a moment that she's even asked a question of her own.

"And _I've_ always _**loved**_ you ...."

She smiled and hugged him, pressing her face against his warm chest and listening to his heart, every beat assuring her that he was well, and proclaiming his love for her.

 

~ * * * ~

"Oh, Eduardo!" She rolled the "r", saying it in the sensuous Latin way she did in his dreams. For a moment, he panicked, fearing it was only a dream after all. She kissed him again, and he decided that, if it _was_ , he was simply never going to wake up.

"I love you too," she whispered, and he knew from the pounding in his chest that he'd never been _more_ awake — or _alive_ ....

 

~ * * * ~

Janine smiled, tears in her eyes like she got from watching a sweet, touching scene in a movie. Even Slimer knew well enough to stay quiet and not ruin the moment for the two kids. The sight left an ache in her heart, though. Thankfully, she knew where to find the one thing that could ease it ....

She crept into Egon's room and discovered he was already awake. He was just lying there, staring up at the ceiling. _Uh-oh, I know that look..._ , she thought. She closed the door behind her, then set herself down on the covers, laying her head and arm over his chest, snuggling up to him. He put his arm around her, kissing the top of her head.

"What's wrong," she asked, her voice slightly muffled by his chest. She waited patiently as he took his time gathering his thoughts. Given how far they tended to roam, it usually took a while.

Finally, "I _failed_ them, Janine."

She looked up into his eyes. " _What?_ ..."

"I should have realised sooner that Eduardo had been cursed, put the pieces together about Hunter and the talisman faster, shouldn't have told the others about Kylie without asking her, should have prepared them all better for what they were facing, should have —"

"— been _psychic_? Egon, no one can know everything that might happen, or even _should_. What happened to Eduardo was an unfortunate _accident_. Or maybe Kylie's right about _Fate_ , who knows? Either way, it was out of your hands. You can't control the kids' every action, every thought and decision! They have to live their lives for themselves! And that includes taking risks!"

 

~ * * * ~ 

Egon sighed. He knew she was right, but he still _felt_ responsible. She kissed him, and he felt a little better. She kissed him again, and he felt a _lot_ better.

"Besides," she said between attempts to suffocate him, "I think this may actually work out better for him, and for Kylie too. Right now they're In the kitchen, learning new things about themselves _and_ each other." She grinned mischievously. "I'd say they're having about as much fun as we are."

Egon's eyes grew wide. " _Kylie_ and _Eduardo?!?_ " he boggled. _Well, it really shouldn't surprise me_ , he thought. _You can cut the tension between them with a proton beam! It'll just be odd seeing them get along after fighting for so long .... Well, they'll probably_ still _fight, at that!_ "Do we need to play chaperones?"

"Mmm, I don't think they can get into that much trouble in the _kitchen_ ...."

Egon had a wicked gleam in his eye. " _We've_ gotten into plenty of 'trouble' in there!"

"Oh, _you_!" She giggled like a school girl, sitting up and hitting him in the face with a pillow. Soon the room was filled with laughter and feathers and two people who acted a lot like the teens they mentored ....

 

~FIN~

**Author's Note:**

> If you've enjoyed my writing, I invite you to explore my original fantasy storyverse, [Gaiankind](http://gaiankind.com)! You can even find Gaiankind stories for free [here](http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Gaiankind) on AO3!


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